Domestic service employees who perform tasks such as cleaning, cooking, childcare and care of the elderly may be exposed to occupational health risks such as harsh chemicals and musculoskeletal injuries all while having limited workplace safety rights, an employment law expert explains.  “Domestic employees face a variety of workplace hazards when working in clients’ homes, including exposure to harmful cleaning chemicals, verbal and physical abuse and injuries caused by lifting and moving clients with limited mobility,” said Peggie Smith, JD, employment law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

While the federal OSH Act regulates worker health and safety in the United States, it does not protect domestics who are classified as self-employed or who are employed by an individual client. Smith also pointed out that the OSH Act offers very limited protection for domestics who are employed by third-party agencies such as a home-care agency or a cleaning agency.  “Because domestics work in individual homes, we tend to assume that they work in a safe environment and thus don’t require the protection afforded to most other workers. Yet the perception of the home as a ‘safe haven’ obscures the reality that the home setting can present serious dangers that threaten health and safety,” Smith explained.

Nearly two-thirds of domestic service workers polled in a recent California study indicated that they considered their jobs hazardous, and three-quarters stated that they did not receive basic protective gear to help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. A majority of workers reported that they had not received training in job safety or injury prevention.  Various health concerns relate to the use of toxic cleaning agents.  “Compared with industrial cleaners, household domestics reported more frequent exposure to respiratory irritants from chemical cleaners, a significantly higher incidence of physical reactions to using cleaning products and using more cleaning products that contained irritants,” Smith said. (click on link to read full story)